Could It Really Be Okay to Drink While You’re Pregnant?

For years, most pregnant women have regarded alcohol as fearfully as they might a knife-wielding maniac. But a new study suggests that light to moderate drinking early in pregnancy might not be as bad as we’ve all thought.

Danish researchers worked with 1,600 women and their children, comparing the kids born to total teetotalers with those born to ladies who drank lightly, moderately, heavily or on a binge basis early in their pregnancies.

They found that light to moderate drinking — up to eight alcoholic beverage a week — had no effect on intelligence, attention or self-control in children at age 5.

But before you sub out your baby shower with a kegger, you should know that the kids of women who had nine or more drinks a week had a worse attention span and were nearly five times more likely to have an IQ lower than the children born to ladies who abstained completely.

In addition, the study authors were quick to point out that “additional large scale studies should be undertaken to further investigate” the possible consequences of drinking while pregnant.